Welcome to Plan Prep and Pour!

So, with the help of my friend Beth, this blog is here in the land of the Internet. I’ve tossed up a few recipes for you, and hopefully you like them – but if you’re here, maybe you’re wondering – what’s with the title?

A couple of years ago, soon after returning to the workforce (I own FIT4MOM Phoenix Scottsdale) after over 5 years of being a stay at home mom, I realized that I was doing a pretty good job of business owning and of “mom-ing.” I was probably even an adequate wife (but let’s not let my husband respond). What I wasn’t good at, what was totally sliding, was taking care of me. I wasn’t exercising like I should (and like I want to and enjoy), I was eating healthy dinners with the family for the most part, but I either wasn’t eating, or was pulling through drive throughs for my own breakfasts, lunches and snacks. I’d put on a few pounds, and more importantly, I wasn’t feeling great.

So in the spring of 2014, I decided to make myself more of a priority. But the big question was how? When most of the hours of your day already seem full – full of work, time with your kids, trying to stay connected to your friends, getting everyone to their activities and so on, how do you take care of you? Here’s what I did and do.

Plan

Like most families, we live and die by the calendar. Maybe you have one on the wall in the kitchen, or maybe it’s on your computer, or maybe you carry an old school paper planner (I love my Erin Condren Life Planner). Every weekend, sometimes on Saturday, sometimes on Sunday, I sit with the weekly calendar (side note: this post is about food, but this is also when I figure out my workouts for the week – those are treated as important appointments). I figure out which days dinner is going to have to be takeout or leftovers, because that’s all there is time for (for example, when we have two baseball games at the same time at fields several miles away from each other – I’m sure many of you can relate). I figure out when we need a crockpot meal and when I’ll actually be home to cook and get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. From that, I build our dinner meal plan for the week. I use this handy Meal Planner.

After the dinners are filled in, I come up with breakfasts and lunches for myself (incorporating leftovers when I can). I also keep on hand all the things to pack my kids’ lunches, and all the breakfasts they might like (we’re rushed on week day mornings – so healthy cereals, whole grain toaster waffles, fruit, chicken sausage…easy stuff).

Prep

After I have a plan, it’s time to shop and prep. I like to prep on Sunday afternoons/evenings, but sometimes it slides into Monday morning. This is when I make my breakfasts and lunches for the week – or at least prep them as close to made as possible. Having those easy grab and go items has eliminated my need to hit a drive through (well, except for coffee. I’m not giving up coffee drive throughs!). I also prep things for the week – I wash and cut up veggies to make an easy veggie tray snack or side dish, I wash fruit, I cut up watermelon etc. I love the produce cleaner from Eat Cleaner. It really does seems to make the food stay fresher, longer. Anything to make the healthy choices the easy ones in our fridge. Usually Sunday’s dinner is something more time consuming than week night dinners, and it always is something that creates leftovers for one more night or for my lunches!

Pour

At some point, part of my planning and prepping ritual began to include a pour as well. I like to savor a glass of wine as I putter around the kitchen on a Sunday prepping for the week and making that night’s dinner. It’s my little reward for prepping for a great week.

I’m excited that you’re here and I hope my process is helpful for you to create your own Plan Prep Pour meal plans and start enjoying a healthy lifestyle!